To Make Life Worth Living

~4~

John was now desperate; this was verging on ridiculous. He held the child's fork in his hand and once again attempted the airplane method to little prevail. Hamish was probably a little too old to fall for that anyway.

"Come on, Hamish." John was on the edge of begging, "You used to love carrots."

"No! Yucky!" With folded arms, he declared. "Carrot belongs in poop-poop!" He laughed shrilly.

"No, you love them!" He tried to encourage the boy to eat his vegetables. He groaned and wanted to hit his head against a brick wall in frustration.

VVVVVRRRRBB VVVUUUURRRRR!

His mobile began ringing to the surface beside the kettle. He wanted to throw it out the window. Dumping down the fork, he dashed over and grabbed it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, John. It's Greg."

"PPPPAAAA PPPPPAAA! CARRRROTTS!"

"Greg? Is everything okay?" He asked over the sound of his child trying to run riot on his only day off.

Greg rarely called but they used be quite close friends before Hamish came and sucked up all of his spare time. They still exchanged the odd text here and there but nothing quite like the hours they used to spend in the pub together.

"Everything is good here but it sounds manic where you are!" The inspector chuckled knowingly. He'd met Hamish on a few occasions when John couldn't find childcare when he was helping out or when meeting up. He liked the child even if he insisted that the Doctor was going to spoil him.

"Yeah, Sunday morning fun!" His voice near a cry. "Hamish, please get off the table. Tables are for glasses."

"Not for asses." Lestrade finished the rhyme over the phone knowing that the boy couldn't hear.

"Exactly, Greg. Anyway, what can I do for you?"

The policeman suddenly became slightly more embarrassed, "I need to ask a favour... There's been an accident but we can't get any medical examiners on site..."

"So you want me to come and check it out?" John guessed.

"If you don't mind..." John could imagine Greg rubbing his neck in embarrassment. He hated having to call on other people to do jobs for him. Although, the ex-soldier was pretty sure that he would be the officer's last option since John was the only person he trusted outside of the force.

"Not a problem... But..." He let the sentence hang for a moment.

"Oh no, is there a condition?" The panic could he heard in his voice. He didn't have time for elaborate conditions.

"Only one. You'll have to act as free childcare when I look over the scene. I can't keep leaving Hamish at the centre so you just have to keep him occupied in one of the cars or something." John stated his proposal.

There was a sigh of relief, "That's all? Of course I'll watch for the little monster! He loves spending time with uncle Greg!"

"Only because you give him sweets!" John argued but couldn't help laughing. "We'll be there in 20 minutes."

---

"Uncle Greg!" The boy wiggled until John set him on the floor where he ran to the police officer. He ignored all the other uniformed people and knew exactly who to run towards. It made John's heart swell slightly.

"Hey there, Hamish! Miss me?" He chuckled while scooping the boy into a tight hug. He loved the boy as though he really was his nephew. His deep grey eyes and blond hair was particularly adorable.

Small arms wrapped around the detective inspector's neck as tight as they could manage, "Yes! Papa miss you too!" He revealed, remembering what his father had said on the journey over to the scene of the crime.

John's laugh echoed around the street and Greg grinned at him, "I knew your old man was a big softie!" He stage-whispered to the boy whilst tickling him, eliciting giggles.

"Hey, that's not fair!" John put on his most intimidating face which his friend and son merely laughed at. "Okay, Ishy, you behave for uncle Greg while Papa goes to help for a minute, okay?"

The boy nodded eagerly, he knew that his uncle Greg kept sweets and goodies stashed in his police car.

"Okay, I'll be back in five." John called as he ducked under the crime scene tape and strode towards the accident."

"Oh damn," Greg muttered once John was gone, "I forgot to warn him... Oh well, he'll be okay, right Hamish?"